Abbie (Sanders) Sheen

She may have been born free, as we find her with her parents enumerated as free in the 1850 Census. Ms. Saunders was living with Mr. Timothy and Mrs. Anne Sanders. Three young children with the last name “Harris” are also in the household and may have been her children.

Sometime in the 1850s, she married Mr. Dennis Sheen. In the 1860s, the couple is living near Sam’s Creek, and have three children. They likely worked on local farms. By 1870, the couple had moved to Westminster. In 1880, Mrs. Sheen/Shean was living with many of her children and their spouses. Mrs. Elizabeth Lowery is listed as her adopted daughter. Her husband, Dennis Sheen, is not with her, and had likely passed away in the 1870s.

By 1900, Mrs. Sheen is listed as being widowed. Of her eight children, only six were still living. She lived with a boarder, Ms. Ida Cooper, who was her daughter’s sister-in-law. Mrs. Barbara Nickum, another daughter, lived next door, on “Foundry Avenue”.

Mrs. Sheen died in the spring of 1906 and is buried in an unmarked grave in Ellsworth Cemetery. At least three of her children are also buried in Ellsworth.